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Topic: What small things did you do TODAY to save money? (Read 2360201 times)

Between sales, coupons and rebates, we were able to get $99 worth of groceries for just $44! This is the lowest we've been able to do since we started being more deliberate with our grocery shopping. The things purchased will get us well into October without another grocery trip which saves us on impulse purchases. Saturday night we hosted several friends over for a bonfire/football watching. Only cost us a bottle of wine purchased on discount the day before. I did a mystery shop on Saturday which will bring in $15 and ran errands since I already had the car out that day. Went to garage sale where we bought a lamp, sunglasses, photo frame and a mini crockpot all for $15! The lamp and photo frame will brighten up my office and the crockpot is giving us a test drive before we commit to a larger one.

* Finally made aebleskiver (Danish pancake balls) with a vintage Griswold aebleskiver pan I found at a yard sale last year. I hereby declare them to be delicious but I can drive up to Solvang if I really have a craving. I can now list the pan on EBay without guilt that I never tried the stuff.

* I also got diapers for free using some unrepeatable coupon mojo that I stumbled into quite by accident. Of course DS2 is potty trained as of last week so one box will go to DH's coworker's kid and one will be sold to build our cash stash.

*Did dry black beans in the crockpot this morning and they were ready to make into burritos by dinner

*Watching a cool NOVA video from the library called, "Secrets Beneath the Ice" -- love having no cable when I know we can do something free like this as a family. I'd bet if we had cable, we'd all be off in separate rooms watching individual shows.

Went to Costco, topped off my gas tank, AND resisted the urge to buy a hot dog to share with Little Brother.

Came in $100 under my initial guesstimate for fixing up the children's play area out back. Found landscape fabric in garage, salvaged some that was already down, and decided I could just reuse the rubber mulch.

Logged

I blog about Mustachianism during the child-raising years at frugalparagon.com.

I save butter wrappers to grease baking pans. Recently I started using them as parchment squares too.

What is a no bake protein energy bar? This sounds awesome!!!!

I mistyped - these are balls, not bars, though you could press this out onto parchment and cut. I found this via Google, I don't remember the source:

I did not have all the exact ingredients, so I improvised.Substitutions/changes: added about 2 T chia seeds, used Kashi 7 grain puff cereal, used Skippy chocolate peanut butter, Hyvee chocolate soy/whey protein powder.

I save butter wrappers to grease baking pans. Recently I started using them as parchment squares too.

What is a no bake protein energy bar? This sounds awesome!!!!

I mistyped - these are balls, not bars, though you could press this out onto parchment and cut. I found this via Google, I don't remember the source:

I did not have all the exact ingredients, so I improvised.Substitutions/changes: added about 2 T chia seeds, used Kashi 7 grain puff cereal, used Skippy chocolate peanut butter, Hyvee chocolate soy/whey protein powder.

I save butter wrappers to grease baking pans. Recently I started using them as parchment squares too.

What is a no bake protein energy bar? This sounds awesome!!!!

I mistyped - these are balls, not bars, though you could press this out onto parchment and cut. I found this via Google, I don't remember the source:

I did not have all the exact ingredients, so I improvised.Substitutions/changes: added about 2 T chia seeds, used Kashi 7 grain puff cereal, used Skippy chocolate peanut butter, Hyvee chocolate soy/whey protein powder.

I like this... Gonna give it a try. I made a Chia pod tonight and it was tasty :-)

These were a little too sweet, likely due to the chocolate peanut butter. I used mini chocolate chips as I expected it would be easier to mix in. I will freely use chunky peanut butter or other nut butters in the recipe. I also made the balls smaller and got 18 out of the batch. There wasn't a nutritional or calorie breakdown in the recipe that I could find, in case that is of interest. Based on the texture, I think one could increase the dry ingredients slightly and still get the mixture to stick together. I thought about substituting some coconut oil for the nut butter, especially until I use up the chocolate peanut butter!

It's 62 F in my house right now. Wearing wool socks, hat and sweater under my sweatshirt rather than turning on the heat. Drinking a home made latte before I pack my lunch for my free-with-college-ID bus ride to the community college for piano lesson.

I'm with 2nd timer- it's 62F in our house right now. Actually not too bad- I'm not even feeling the urge to bundle up in a blanket. We'll see how long we can hold out without heat, particularly since we had to block so many vents that we won't be able to use the gas heating without rearranging a lot of furniture.

It's 62 F in my house right now. Wearing wool socks, hat and sweater under my sweatshirt rather than turning on the heat.

One of the nice things about living in a smallish apartment in the middle of the building is that we're pretty well insulated. We only got really uncomfortable a couple of days in the summer when the temps were 90+ for several days in a row. That was the only time my DS pushed me to buy a fan (which I ended up not doing). I was actually going to open the screen door this morning because I feel a bit too warm. Hopefully it bodes well for low electricity use this winter!

It's 62 F in my house right now. Wearing wool socks, hat and sweater under my sweatshirt rather than turning on the heat.

One of the nice things about living in a smallish apartment in the middle of the building is that we're pretty well insulated. We only got really uncomfortable a couple of days in the summer when the temps were 90+ for several days in a row. That was the only time my DS pushed me to buy a fan (which I ended up not doing). I was actually going to open the screen door this morning because I feel a bit too warm. Hopefully it bodes well for low electricity use this winter!

I remember those days. We had an apartment in the middle of the building and everybody else heated it for us. Lovely!

Just booked our return flight from Beijing for our Christmas trip using frequent flyer miles. Business class was only 5000 miles more per ticket than economy -- have never seen that before, so I snatched them up. Fees and taxes will only be about $65 total. Helps offset the exploding volcano of spending we've been having to not have to pay out of pocket for the tickets.

DS is stoked. He's been begging for business class tickets for ages. I used his miles to get them :)

My husband travels a lot for work so he has a very healthy frequent flyer balance (we've had one trip to Europe this year and he's already replaced the points we used), so I'm always interested in articles on maximising use of points.

It's fairly widely regarded that upgrading gives you the best value for money

While that approach may be true in general, in this case it wasn't an optino.

I just checked the fares. On the date of our flight, one way seats would have been $1234 each to purchase in regular Economy class, and $2392 to purchase in business class. The economy class seats would not have been upgradable at that fare (L class -- Delta only allows international upgrades on Y, B or M fares). There is no easy way for me to compare what an upgradable flight would have cost.

My options for booking with miles were 65,000 miles + $31.50 in fees for an economy class seat (.019/mile), or 70,0000 miles + $31.50 in business (.034/mile).

For only 5000 extra miles each, I got an extra $1158 worth of seat (x2 = $2316). And I'm paying less than $65 out of pocket.

This is for a direct flight. Flying the other airline I have points for (United) would have involved two plane changes, would have extended the duration of the trip by 7-8 hours minimum, and would have taken more miles (80,000/person).

Asked the tailor if he could revisit the price on the items I picked up this evening. He took a look at what was done and dropped the cost by 45%. (It likely doesn't hurt that I've been a loyal customer for several years and they really were quick fixes for someone with a machine.)

A client lunch was postponed at the last minute, so I had some instant oatmeal with peanut butter instead of going for takeout.

We wanted corned beef sandwiches... the price for sliced corned beef at the local store's deli $13.99/lb! Turns out a corned beef brisket costs just above $5 a pound. Stuck it in the crock pot all day and voila! Corned beef for sandwiches, for about a third the cost and the most delicious we've ever had, too!

We wanted corned beef sandwiches... the price for sliced corned beef at the local store's deli $13.99/lb! Turns out a corned beef brisket costs just above $5 a pound. Stuck it in the crock pot all day and voila! Corned beef for sandwiches, for about a third the cost and the most delicious we've ever had, too!

Oooh now you've got me wanting corned beef but I know how long it takes to cook...

I passed on my meter readings to the utility company I'm leaving. Barely in time; if I would have done it a day later they would've guestimated my usage on "historic usage" to draw up the final bill. My new supplier of kWh and m3 is cheaper, so I'm glad I didn't get overbilled by the old one.

Only drinking tea and water today, and loving it! I switched the BF to loose leaf tea by filling filter teabags in advance. This will save not only on the hot beverages themselves, but also on waste disposal as the paper baggies can be composted (he previously used plastic mesh ones that ended up in the trash). Small win, but we drink a lot of tea between the both of us so it's another tiny step in the right direction.

I've prepared ingredients for a nice pumpkin pie tonight, first of this autumn season. Already looking forward to it! I will use the residual heat for baking dessert: apple turnovers filled with what's left over from baking apple pie earlier this week.

Yesterday I rode the bike to work through a couple of showers, I'm trying my luck again this afternoon. If I can trust the radar, luck is on my side today and I'll stay dry.

We're working from home and lunch at home has been a bit tricky to work out. There are a few constraints, the main one is I have a lot of nausea from medical treatment and have developed some strong aversions to some of our normal foods (hopefully will wear off post treatment!). However, potatoes are ok as long as I add a shit ton of lemon juice. So most of our lunches at home have been microwaved potatoes in their skin with some sort of topping (usually lemon juice for me).

Which, it turns out, is super cheap. We buy 5kg of potatoes for $5. So lunch for the two of us is under a $1 for 2 people, depending on whether DH adds some more expensive ingredients to his or not.

* Ate leftovers, bulk purchased oatmeal and home eggs. Stayed out of the drive-thru.* Saved $37 on new bedding for the kids with BB&B coupons. The checker was great and we hashed out the best coupons to use for each item.* Sold and shipped $42 of stuff on eBay* Did not buy a Food Saver machine from the clearance shelves, because even though it was $100 off and I like saving food and money, I do not actually need a Food Saver, which reminded me of this image shared by the Ultimate Cheapskate last November:

Fixed a leak tire this morning, so I can ride my bike to work as usual. Seems to hold up so far...Dogsitting duty today: took dog nr. 1 to the grocery store by bike, did some quick shopping while she waited outside, continued trip to house of doggy nr. 2 and headed back with two dogs running along. No gas used, groceries done at Aldi and both dogs got ample exercise. Yay for win-win!

Got pizza with friends last night. Leftovers packed for lunch today. I didn't finish my crust last night, so I packed it today instead of throwing it out. This is more a testament to how flipping good the pizza is than my frugality.

Today I shared a new challenge my husband and I are undertaking. We are going to eat on $200 for the next 30 days. I know it's not a big stretch for the folks here, but we have been overspending our $16/day food budget and now we're going to do our level best to stick with a $7/day budget.

Today I posted on our local buy - nothing page. I shared our challenge and asked if anyone would like to share some fresh herbs. I was gifted oregano, basil, rosemary, parsley, chives and some kale. Holy smokes! I was blown away.

Today I shared a new challenge my husband and I are undertaking. We are going to eat on $200 for the next 30 days. I know it's not a big stretch for the folks here, but we have been overspending our $16/day food budget and now we're going to do our level best to stick with a $7/day budget.

Today I posted on our local buy - nothing page. I shared our challenge and asked if anyone would like to share some fresh herbs. I was gifted oregano, basil, rosemary, parsley, chives and some kale. Holy smokes! I was blown away.

I love the idea of getting my local buy-nothing group involved with a spending challenge! How great!

Yesterday I noticed that someone at work had tossed a nearly full package of hamburger buns in the trash. Fished them out and I'm about to feed them to my chickens.

Used a $10 of coupon at the feed store to purchase the economy size packages of vitamin supplements and fly spray. Thought I could make it through the rest of the year without buying fly spray but ick, they flies get so obnoxious right before it gets cold and my horses were throwing tantrums about it when I needed them to hold still so I could trim their hooves.

This morning I tried the "trick" I learned earlier in this thread: used one tea bag in a 2 cup pot rather than trying to re-use the tea bag for a second cup. Worked great!

I was headed out to run errands late this morning. We just returned for vacation so none of my usual thrifty lunch options were available (i.e., leftovers or fresh fruit). But I knew I would succumb to the lure of restaurant or fast food if I went out without eating. 1/2 a can of refried beans with a little homemade salsa filled the bill.

I also took a re-usable container of cold tap water with me. It's still hot here so this enabled me to skip ice tea at Starbucks. (There's a Starbucks 1/2 mile from my house, across from the library which I have to pass every time I leave my neighborhood.)

I pulled a couple of pieces of roasted turkey carcass / thighs out of the freezer with some saved, frozen onion scraps, a bay leaf and some parsley stalks and simmered it all up for several hours with water and a splash of vinegar to make turkey broth. It will go in soup, or home made risotto.

This morning I tried the "trick" I learned earlier in this thread: used one tea bag in a 2 cup pot rather than trying to re-use the tea bag for a second cup. Worked great!

I tried this too, a few months ago, and am now a total convert to tea in a pot! So great, the little tips and tricks we can share here. Thanks to everyone who posts here -- even the smallest idea may be something that someone else has never heard about before. This thread is such a treasure trove!

* Wore a free dress and necklace I found in a trash pile on the curb and totally got a compliment on the dress from a stylish girl at the comedy club* Got free tickets to another show at the club for liking them on Twitter.

Got the battery in my iPhone 5 replaced for $70. Well worth it as the battery now lasts more than an hour. (My less Mustachian husband was encouraging me to get a new phone, but I couldn't justify $80+ a month compared with my currently free phone ($30/month plan, and I get a $30/month phone subsidy from work).

My husband unplugged the Kinect part of his Xbox because he never uses it amd it was just drawing power.

My birthday is next month so yesterday we spent about $30 on a couple of little things (mostly stationery, which I love). I had to keep a straight face when the girl at Kikki K said she had been on the Tiffany website picking out her birthday present. When we left I reminded my husband that he is to never buy me Tiffany.

Had two hours' notice that relatives are staying tonight, and will want feeding, so I have a chook in the oven. Dinner plus lunches plus stock from the carcass.

Got the battery in my iPhone 5 replaced for $70. Well worth it as the battery now lasts more than an hour. (My less Mustachian husband was encouraging me to get a new phone, but I couldn't justify $80+ a month compared with my currently free phone ($30/month plan, and I get a $30/month phone subsidy from work).

My husband unplugged the Kinect part of his Xbox because he never uses it amd it was just drawing power.

My birthday is next month so yesterday we spent about $30 on a couple of little things (mostly stationery, which I love). I had to keep a straight face when the girl at Kikki K said she had been on the Tiffany website picking out her birthday present. When we left I reminded my husband that he is to never buy me Tiffany.

Had two hours' notice that relatives are staying tonight, and will want feeding, so I have a chook in the oven. Dinner plus lunches plus stock from the carcass.

We saw Everest in 3d last night (ducks punches- we had a voucher and it was only our 2nd date night this year!) it was good, but annoying that the actors were lying around in the snow without their goggles and masks on- I know it was probably so you could read the actor expressions, but it annoyed me. Though, I suppose had it been properly realistic, you'd have no idea who was who or what they were saying if they didn't take off their face gear.

Resisted the urge to buy an adorable ear cuff that I didn't need and probably would never wear

Took water bottles out the past few days so I wasn't tempted to buy a drink

Was running a little short on decorations for a mini hens party/gathering, so DS and I used printer paper to make cutout snowflakes that were adorable and matched the decor

For my contribution to the party, I used some of our beautiful excess veggies and fruit to make a great healthy savoury platter, rather than buying more.

Was inspired to declare October a maximum moustache challenge month (was reading old MMM posts and got inspired), have figure out that if I buckle down and increase my savings by $100/pay I can move my NW $0 date from Dec 31 to Dec1 this year. I'm soo looking forward to having those student loans paid!

Mum and Dad will bring us a visit today, and a programmable thermostat + a wooden parasol. I'll bake them something tasty to say thanks.

I'm on a laundry marathon. After weeks of rainy weather, it's sunny today and the coming days so I'm using this opportunity to dry everything in the sun now I have the chance.

Used an "expired" pack of soycream last night (it had been stored in the fridge so I figured it was save). Nobody is exhibiting symptoms yet so I guess we'll live.

The cuttings I took from some house plants are making roots. Little tip: a pinch of aspirine in the water (or use water in which willow branches have grown roots), functions as rooting hormone. Double the plants for the cost of an aspirine and some patience.

Was inspired to declare October a maximum moustache challenge month (was reading old MMM posts and got inspired), have figure out that if I buckle down and increase my savings by $100/pay I can move my NW $0 date from Dec 31 to Dec1 this year. I'm soo looking forward to having those student loans paid!

There will soon be a thread for that very purpose! The current thread for September is aptly titled, "Savetember," and I expect that the new one will come soon with a similar play on the word "October".

Took sandwiches and a thermos of coffee with us on our shopping outing. Having his own coffee enabled the Hub to resist the siren song of the cool coffee machine at WINCO which wants a dollar before it will be your friend.

Skipped the dryer for a load of clothes. It was a load where 1/2 the items I never use the dryer on anyway. Not sure I'll do it again. I have solar panels which generate (yearly) all the electricity we need. It's an electric dryer so not a lot of incentive.

When I canned tomatoes today I saved the skins and dehydrated them until crispy. Then turned them to dust in an old coffee grinder. I read about this somewhere on the internet -not sure where. Tomato dust can be added to soups or rice or whatever to add a bit of tomato taste. Or you can just add to hot water for instant tomato soup.

Was inspired to declare October a maximum moustache challenge month (was reading old MMM posts and got inspired), have figure out that if I buckle down and increase my savings by $100/pay I can move my NW $0 date from Dec 31 to Dec1 this year. I'm soo looking forward to having those student loans paid!

There will soon be a thread for that very purpose! The current thread for September is aptly titled, "Savetember," and I expect that the new one will come soon with a similar play on the word "October".

Was inspired to declare October a maximum moustache challenge month (was reading old MMM posts and got inspired), have figure out that if I buckle down and increase my savings by $100/pay I can move my NW $0 date from Dec 31 to Dec1 this year. I'm soo looking forward to having those student loans paid!

There will soon be a thread for that very purpose! The current thread for September is aptly titled, "Savetember," and I expect that the new one will come soon with a similar play on the word "October".

When I canned tomatoes today I saved the skins and dehydrated them until crispy. Then turned them to dust in an old coffee grinder. I read about this somewhere on the internet -not sure where. Tomato dust can be added to soups or rice or whatever to add a bit of tomato taste. Or you can just add to hot water for instant tomato soup.

Ooooh, I had forgotten about that - I have a bunch of tomatoes that I should do that to!

Me today: Used my kmart biking points, doubled coupons and bottle returns from found bottles to make a $2.12 profit buying 4 pie pumpkins, urgently needed cold meds (advil, chloraseptic spray, cough drops), a yogurt, some kashi cereal, and mouthwash. Did it all on my bike, no driving.

Making bread right now from whole grain I got free from Craigslist from some survivalist's Y2K stockup nonsense and ground in my craigslist vitamix, making stuffed pumpkins for dinner.

Breakfast was old fashioned oats with some homemade applesauce from my apple tree mixed in. Lunch was leftover homemade eggplant parm, we had leftovers from using just half of the world's biggest eggplant, which was only a dollar!